Intelligent Valve Monitor
January 18, 2006
We run several IVM600 Intelligant Valve monitors on a test pumping setup outside the back of our shop. It's interesting to see how some common problems are picked up, and how the errors that are reported should be interpreted. In this example we'll see how two consecutive errors (and assumptions about the weather) show the valve almost freezing up.
NOTE:
- It's January in Canada
- This valve monitor has a seat time set to 5 seconds.
- We're pumping a 50% windshield washer antifreeze solution.
- The system is not insulated or heated.
This morning we checked an IVM6000 for errors.
The valve reported:
5:36:12 Outlet Stuck # 6
5:36:08 Inlet no Outlet
So what does this mean?
At 5:36:02 the pump panel started pumping.
The Inlet no Outlet occurred when the seat time was violated. This means the valve's internal disk only made it part of the way down, and didn't seat on the outlet.
The pump ran for another 4 seconds before reporting Outlet Stuck.
It (must have) reported Outlet Stuck because the previous dosing didn't cause the cam to rotate the plunger.
This is plausible since the operating conditions are very cold, it was 5:30 in the AM (likely the coldest point) and internal icing could occur.
Posted by Iain at January 18, 2006 12:19 PMTrackBack URL for this entry: